Suddenly Ever After
by Lilacnightmares
Summary: Chase Redford transfers to Ever After High for a semester after Darling Charming and the other Wonderlanders encourage him to do so. Commissioned from Tumblr.


If there was one thing that Chase Redford didn't quite understand it was the way that the world worked outside of Wonderland. Just, the idea of things functioning so very different from the way that he had framed the world to work. It seemed a little impossible that someplace out there wasn't like his Wonderland.

But it did exist, even if he was a little hesitant about it.

Well, it wasn't like he had ever been able to know anything outside of Wonderland.

He had been a young boy when the Evil Queen cast her curse on his home, and because of that, he had not once been outside of Wonderland. The brothers Grimm had to cut them off to stop the evil magic from spreading to the rest of Ever After, and while it was mostly contained in Wonderland before the curse was broken, it had done a lot of damage to everything to an extent that was noticeable.

Without the ability to visit loved ones or make contact with people that helped the daily this and that of Wonderland, there had been a lot of trouble. Certain people had become mad, well, a different kind of mad than what Wonderland was used to and it warped them.

The Queen of Hearts had been one of those people. There had been a few other casualties but because of the quick thinking by the adults, the worst kind of magic that could have affected everyone was stopped. For a while, the Queen of Hearts had just been extra vicious about her punishments and gave no sympathy to anyone who crossed her path.

Alistair and Bunny had been pretty bad about getting on her nerves. However, they were spared from her wraith simply because of how important they were to Wonderland's story and that was all they had. Chase had tried to warn them time and time again to not cause any trouble because of Alistair's curious nature. He knew that it was only a matter of time until that boy got into trouble, but he tried to make sure that if they did—

It wasn't with the wrong people.

People that caused a ruckus and made a scene in a way that went against the order of Wonderland were due for trouble, and Chase had been raised to make sure that he took care of not only the people in his family but the people all around Wonderland. That meant that he made sure that everyone that was in Wonderland whether they lived there or not were taken care of as much as he could assure.

It had been both his job as the Red Knight and the job of the White Knight to keep the balance in Wonderland. However, since the White Knight had gotten older in years and he had never had any children, Chase had to be on his toes and take care of more than just his half when the old man had to take a break.

It was hard work to ensure that everyone was following the rules.

Hard for any teenagers to put on their plate when they had a million other things to take care of alongside these duties, but Chase took it in stride and did what he had to do.

When Darling Charming took over the mantle of the White Knight and started to pick up the slack for him it had been so much easier to breathe. A lot of his worries were toned down, and he could get some rest instead of spending so much time taking care of others; Even though he loved his duty and he loved to make sure that people were okay, even a knight of honor needed to be able to take a break sometimes.

It was a fight but it wasn't as hard with someone capable at his side.

Chase and Darling both fought to ensure that things were alright and well taken care of. Both of them took care of everything that had to be done in shifts and different sectors depending on the day of the week, and it was as easy as that. What had once been a tedious battle on his own had gotten easier to deal with thanks to someone else.

That was how it worked for a while, at least until the disaster curse was reversed in Wonderland by Raven Queen and balance was restored to everyone and everything that had been affected the Evil Queen.

Everything went back to the way that it was way before he could even remember. The amount of peace and calm that was now in Wonderland left him without a lot of work. There were a lot more reasonable people around since the curse wasn't affecting the way that people interacted with the world. It was almost like he was out of a job. Well, he wouldn't go and say it was that much better but the amount of work on his plate had been lifted so much that he actually didn't know what to do with himself.

Chase had not known a life without hard work.

That was when Darling suggested to him that he come to Ever After High. He was hesitant at first because Wonderland only had a day for all of their school work every year and Ever After High went most of the year. But, after some insistence and advice from the other Wonderlanders that went to school at Ever After High, he decided to take the offer and go to this place to figure out what his purpose was now.

Ever After was such a different place from his homeland. Whereas he was used to madness and utterly bonkers concepts, this place was far more curious and normal to him than anything he had ever seen. The water here flowed down a straight line, the clouds in the sky stayed far above the ground, and not all of the animals were walking on two legs and chatting away about a party and why the time is blue.

This was definitely a new environment for him.

When he found himself standing at the front steps of the building, he hesitated for a moment as he thought about it. Would he fit in with these people? Or would he wind up stuck with the people that he knew best? He was a real fish out of water in this place.

Chase shook his head and regained his confidence, marching up the steps and opening up the front door to reveal the hallways and numerous students.

As he sauntered into the halls, eyes began to look in his direction. Sparrow Hood and Dexter Charming looked at him strangely, with their faces looking a bit hot. Holly O'Hair and Duchess Swan also gave him a longing gaze as he passed by them, looking none the wiser to all of their stares.

He wrote it off as people being interested in the new kid. He had heard that that happened to people sometimes. However, when he was approached by Darling Charming, she was smiling ear to ear and laughing at the perplexed look on his face. "Hey, why is everyone looking at me like that?"

"Well, you're the new resident eye candy," Darling said matter of factly. "Daring is now off the table since he's dating Rosabella Beauty. So, surprise, you're now the hottest commodity in the school for some reason. I'll never understand why every ever after gets so invested in charming guys like you when there are so many better princesses out there."

Chase blinked. "Well, I don't know what to say that."

"You don't have to. I just thought you'd figure it out with half the girls and boys in this half of the school checking you out."

"Hey Chase, you came to Ever After High, after all. Nice to see you again, man," Alistair's voice broke through the air. Chase looked over his shoulder and saw him walking up with Bunny Blanc in tow. Bunny lifted her hand in a wave at him not long after that.

"It's nice to see you again," Bunny agreed.

Chase crossed his arms over his chest and suddenly grew very stern. Even though they weren't in Wonderland, he still felt the need to make sure that neither of this curious pair were up to no good because of Alistair's curiosity. He looked over the both of them, as was second nature at this point, "The two of you are staying out of trouble, right?"

Bunny and Alistair shared a worried look—

Both Darling and Chase began to laugh at the same time. Now that was something that was normal for him. Seeing these two and knowing what would normally happen when they all got in the same room.

"I'm just kidding, you guys. Fairy Scout's honor!" Chase said. "I'm just a normal guy here, there's not a Red Knight when I'm here in Ever After. It's just regular old Chase Redford going to school like the rest of you. You don't have to worry about getting into trouble. Though, you still should follow the rules, even if I'm not in charge."

"Haha… you had us going for a second there."

"Yeah, I thought you were really going to send us to detention."

Seeing other Wonderlanders really set Chase's mind at ease. He headed out to his first class of the day which was Hero Training. It was really a breeze for him, and the minute that Professor Knight told him to whisk the cornflour damsel from the tree, he sprang into action and beat the rest of the guys out of the water right off the bat without breaking a sweat.

Much faster than Daring Charming or Hunter Huntsman by a long shot, for sure. His endurance and reflexes were always above one hundred percent thanks to his diligence and persistence really paid off in more places then just back home.

"He could rescue me any day," Dexter muttered under his breath as Chase chatted amicably with the professor.

"I know what you mean, dude. There's not always a guy like that around here who can impress the ladies and the guys, don't be so embarrassed!" Hopper clapped him on the back without warning.

Dexter was hot in the face as he sputtered and pretended that he didn't say anything like that. It was embarrassing for anyone to know who he was into!"You're one to talk, I'm surprised you aren't tongue tied yet. Doesn't that always happen when you see someone attractive?"

"Briar is the only princess that makes my head go fairy dumb, I know how to talk to guys, just not the cute princesses with- with-" Hopper fizzled into a puff of smoke and a little frog appeared on the ground not long after his words faded out. He could talk to boys all day long but he just couldn't do it with girls.

"Of course he would have to bother to save the both of you, you guys are always in as much danger as the damsels," Daring pointed out as he walked up to them. "Enchanting fairy good looks are meant for this field. I wouldn't mind working with him out on the field. That's where men can truly bond."

Sparrow took his chance to pop out from the treetop he had been resting in to hide from the professor, with a flick of his wrist against his guitar, he kicked out and shrieked. "That's Daring speak for, he totally thinks that guy is hot!"

Having outdone the other guys didn't actually leave him as an object of jealousy. As a matter of fact, he continued to impress and enthrall his classmates his entire first day. He wasn't just adept at heroics, he was great at baking, and lent a great hand to Ginger Breadhouse when her recipe was nearly destroyed by Sparrow Hood's tomfoolery.

He even managed to be on the good side of Professor Rumplestilskin with his knowledge of Wonderland by sheer chance when he gave a surprise pop quiz on the most mediocre of facts only a madman could possibly know!

By the end of the day, he really felt welcomed to the school. All of his anxieties had really been for naught. Ever After High was a very accepting place, and he knew that he was going to enjoy his break here. Courtly Jester was even enjoying her time at this place, and in spite of her former actions as his boss, she was fairing a lot better here than she ever had back in Wonderland. It was a telltale sign of the positive energy that this place held.

He decided that he was really going to enjoy Ever After High.

Though, he wasn't sure what he was going to do about the crowd of people that were surrounding him as he tried to enjoy his lunch. Darling's words from earlier that morning came back to mind and his face instantly turned beet red. Okay, so maybe it was going to be a lot different than he expected but he was going to roll with the punches.

Er, crushes.

Now how did one deal with that?


End file.
